Bourne DNR adds first woman patrol officer

Thursday

Jul 26, 2007 at 12:01 AMJul 26, 2007 at 10:26 PM

Bourne has its first-ever female natural resources officer with the appointment of Bourne resident Sharon Hamilton.

Town Administrator Thomas Guerino appointed Hamilton, the Department of Natural Resources secretary, to officer status and patrol duties on Wednesday. The NRO section of the DNR has been males-only since the early 1970s when the department was created.

Paul Gately

Bourne has its first-ever female natural resources officer with the appointment of Bourne resident Sharon Hamilton.
Town Administrator Thomas Guerino appointed Hamilton, the Department of Natural Resources secretary, to officer status and patrol duties on Wednesday. The NRO section of the DNR has been males-only since the early 1970s when the department was created.
Hamilton said she was pleased with the appointment and eager to start the new job with its attendant training, which will likely include firearms.
DNR Director Tim Mullen welcomed Hamilton’s appointment, saying she was “clearly the most qualified for the position” of all the job applicants.
“The job has changed from the old days,” Mullen said. “We’re not beating around the bushes at night with a gun any more. There’s a different level of enforcement. New philosophies; new ways of getting the job done, looking at things. There’s more focus on public education.”
Two landfill workers and a highway department employee also applied for the NRO vacancy, which was created when Mullen was recently appointed the permanent DNR director.
Guerino at the next selectmen’s meeting will ask the board to waive the time period in which they can contest his appointment.
Hamilton provided input about the DNR when its future was considered and reconsidered by an ad hoc advisory review committee to selectmen, saying the department desperately needed more front-office staffing.